Back to Tortall
by Muggle721
Summary: It has been 3 years since Aly has been back to Tortall. Finially she gets a good enough excuse for her to go back and intoduce her family to her one back in Tortall. See what everyone is up to since the end of the Trickster Series.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So hi everyone!! Thanks for chosing to read my very first fanfiction. I really hope you all like it. I want so feed back and any ideas that you think would work good would be great!

I am not Tamora Pierce

Chapter 1: A Pleasant Surprise

"Nawat can you please tell me where we are going," Aly begged her husband for the 10th time. Nawat had his hands covering Aly's eyes while their three small children, two girls Ochobai and Ulasu and one boy Junim, lead her through the palace somewhere.

"Just be quiet Aly," Nawat whispered in her ear, "you will love this so stop complaining."

"Hurry up Mama!," said Ochobai.

"You are going to be so excited. We are," added Ulasu.

Aly could just see her three little ones and smiled. They were getting so big, 2 ½ years old to be exact. The two girls were complete opposites but were always up to something. Ulasu looked like her husband with her soft dark hair falling past her waist and those lively black eyes that sparkled with curiosity. Her other daughter Ochobai looked more like Aly herself. She had the same strawberry blond which was always kept pulled back in a loose braid but had inherited her famed grandmother's violet eyes which seem to glint with mischief constantly. Her son, Junim, was much quieter than his two sisters. He usually kept his opinions and comments to himself but when he did give his input it seemed like was a lot older than 2 ½. He also looked very much like his grandfather. He had the same dark wavy brown hair that was forever falling into his eyes, a larger than average nose, and hazel eyes that twinkled with intelligence. The only thing only physical trait that the triplets shared was their deeply tanned skin like their father.

"We're here my Aly," Nawat whispered in her ear. Aly gave a little jump. She had almost forgotten that he was there because she was so lost in thinking about their children.

Nawat uncovered Aly's eyes and she immediately recognized where they were. The pavilion in the gardens they were in had many listening and eavesdropping spells so that no one could be over heard. As she looked around she noticed a very tall creature looking out on the pond which sat in the middle of the garden. The tall creature had to be about 7 feet tall and his skin had a beaded texture that looked like water droplets.

"Tkaa," Aly yelled with delight as she ran to the immortal and wrapped her arms around him in a huge embrace. This was the first real correspondence she had had with her family in three years. She had been keeping an eye on them with her spy system but it was not the same as talking to someone that was practically part of her family.

"Hello Miss Aly," Tkaa said in his whisper of a voice.

"Tkaa, what are you doing here," she asked while letting him go, "How is everything in Tortall? How are my parents and brothers? The King and Queen? Daine, Numair, and their children?..."

"Aly if you don't leave time for Tkaa to answer your questions you won't be able to find out anything," Nawat said as he interrupted Aly laughing.

"Sorry Tkaa," Aly said blushing, "At least tell me what you are doing in the Copper Islands."

"I am here as a deligate from Tortall to see how the Copper Islands have changed since Queen Dovsary was crowned queen 3 years ago," he said, "But I am also here to bring you a message from your brother Alan. He wants to invite you to come back to Tortall this midwinter. He will be going into the Chamber and has requested that you be there."

Aly was shocked. She had totally forgotten that Alan was going into the Chamber this midwinter. She could recall a conversation that she and her brother had had years ago just before he started his training as a page. He had asked her to be present when he went into the Chamber.

She glanced over at her family. They were all grinning at her with a wicked smile.

"You all knew about this, didn't you," she exclaimed, "But how did you keep this away from me? I am the Islands Spymaster."

"I have my ways," was all Nawat told her with an even bigger grin, "So when do we leave Tkaa."

"Wait, we can't actually go," Aly said to them all.

"But Mama we all want to go," said Junim as his sisters nodded in agreement, "We all want to meet everyone in Tortall. We want to meet Grandma and Grandpa."

"I'm sorry little ones but I am not able to leave the Islands now. Maybe the three of you and your father can go and cheer on your Uncle Alan and meet the rest of your family," she told them sadly.

"No," Junim told his mother, which surprised Aly since he never really got angry, "We all need to go."

"But…," Aly said trailing off, "I have responsibilities here, like protecting Dove and I would get so behind in paper work."

"Well what is Vitorcine your second-in-command good for and all your deputies. They all know what they are doing. They have been with you since the rebellion. I think they will be more than capable to handle the paperwork for the next few weeks and as for the Queen, I am quite certain that Taybur will be able to take care of protecting her. He is caption of the Queen's Guard," Nawat told her, "You need a break Aly. You have not stopped working since you came to the Islands and besides Dove had already approved of this little holiday."

"Well I guess I could use a vacation," said a shocked Aly.

"We get to go on vacation!," Ulasu said that the same time as Ochobai said, "I can't wait to meet everyone."

Aly just looked at them all and sighed. Then she turned to Tkaa and asked, "When do we leave."


	2. Chapter 2

I am not Tamora Pierce

Chapter 2: Port Caynan

Aly was leaning on the rail of the ship that was taking her back to the place of her birth. As she looked across the water she could see a small speck of land that was Port Caynan in Tortall. It was just before sunrise and she knew that they would be docking shortly. No one else was around and she was starting to get nervous. She had not seen her family since her wedding to Nawat three years earlier and had had only minimal contact with them. She knew that her parents and brothers would love her children but was nervous for them to meet.

"Mama, where are you!" she heard one of the triplets yell and decided it was time to go back to her family. She needed to get them ready for the day, since it was certain to be an exciting one.

* * *

A few hours later Aly, Nawat, Ulasu, Junim, and Ochobai were standing in line to walk down the gang plank. Holding onto Junim, Aly scanned the crowd for a familiar face. The only people that knew they were coming were her parents and brothers but she was unsure of who was going to meet them.

As they moved forward in line Aly noticed a man in the shadows. He was staring straight at her and after that Aly knew exactly who had come to meet her family. Grinning wickedly she nudged Nawat. He glanced at his wife while trying to hold onto Ochobai and Ulasu and noticed the grin.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I think I found our escort," she said nodding in the direction of the man in the shadows, Nawat grinned right back at Aly while getting a better hold on the girls. They then started their slow decent down the gang plank toward the man in the shadows trying to keep a hold on their children. As Aly got closer she could see the man's dark hair that was going grey in certain places, his crooked grin and the hazel eyes that her son had inherited.

"Well look who we have here," Aly said to the man, "Long time, no see Da."

Baron George Cooper gave his daughter a good look. She looked like the same Aly he knew but there was something different about her. She seemed to have an air of purpose to her. Nothing like the young girl who just a few short years ago want to make a career out of relaxation, he thought.

"Are you the same Aly that told me that her job was going to be the art of relaxation?" George asked her while grinning, "Now look at you. A husband, three small children, and a job to match her father's."

Aly just grinned back at her father and proceeded with introductions.

"Da, I know that you have all ready meet Nawat," she said gesturing toward her husband. "These are our children. Ulasu, Ochobai, and Junim.

George looked at each of his grandchildren as Aly said their names. None of them looked completely identical. Ulasu looked like her father and Ochobai looked like Aly but with his wife's eyes. Junim surprised him the most. George felt like he was looking into a miniature of himself.

Aly smiled as she noticed her father taking in her children. She especially liked when her father's eyes widened as he looked Junim. With her father and son looking right at one another she could really see how much they looked alike.

"It is very nice to meet you three," he said to the triplets, "you can call me Grandda."

"Say hello to your Grandda," Aly told her children.

"Hello," they all chorused together shyly.

"Well now that all the introductions are done," Nawat said, "could we possibly get our bags?"

"All right let's get the bags and head back to the Swoop," said George.

* * *

The half a day's ride to Pirate Swoop seemed to take forever. Aly was a little nervous to see her mother. The last time she had seen her mother at the Swoop was right before she was kidnapped and brought to the Copper Island's.

The triplets were excited the entire way to Pirates Swoop. They were all over their Grandda asking him to tell them stories about him and their Grandma, which he happily did.

"Then your Grandma just let her sword go. It flew through the air with so much force it just pierced Duke Roger's chest. That same sword is still in the catacombs of the palace to this day, stuck in the stone floor," said George as her finished another story about his wife. The three children were amazed at what they heard. They had known that they came from a famous family but had never heard stories.

"I wanna hear another story," Ochobai asked her Grandda, "Please?"

"Please, Grandda, Please?" echoed Ulasu and Junim.

"I don't think we have enough time for another story," said Aly. She had been riding behind the wagon, which carried her children, father, and luggage.

"Look over their little ones," Aly told her children, pointing to the cliffs that were starting to appear around the bend in the road. "That is Pirates Swoop."

Set into the cliffs far above the ocean was a small castle. It was an older building but was still able to keep people safe from attacks. Aly knew every single nook and cranny in the Swoop, from the tallest tower to the oldest dungeons bellow.  
"How do you feel coming back to the Swoop?" George asked his daughter.

"I really don't know," she told him truthfully. "I'm nervous and excited at the same time."

"She is home and very excited to see you and the children," George said. He knew Aly knew exactly who he was talking about.

"I want her to meet the triplets very much but I don't want to start arguing right as I walk in the door," she told him.

"I don't think you will. There is also a surprise for you when we get to the Swoop," he told her with a grin.

To which Aly just raised her eyebrows and looked toward the Swoop coming closer and closer.


End file.
